077: Is the inner world of humanity truly so complex?

Pantheon seized the moment and asked, “Xiyang, what are you thinking about?”

“I want to run away.”

“…”

Those three words instantly darkened President Lin’s face.

He could barely restrain himself from grabbing her and giving her a good scolding.

Pantheon, seeing Yichen’s dark expression, quickly tried to smooth things over. “Xiyang, you’re only saying that because you’ve lost your memory. If you hadn’t, you’d never say anything like this. You’d definitely want to stay by Yichen’s side forever, through thick and thin.”

Little Qi, head lowered, showed no reaction.

Pantheon pressed on, “Xiyang, now that you’ve lost your memory, could you stay by Yichen’s side and keep him company, so his illness will never return in this lifetime?”

Little Qi slowly lifted her gaze, biting her lip as she looked at him, her eyes meeting his inescapably.

The two stared at each other, oblivious to the world.

After two minutes, Little Qi abruptly turned to Pantheon. “Why should I?”

“…”

Then she looked at Yichen. “He looks as strong as an ox—doesn’t look sick at all.”

“…”

Yichen shot her a look so sharp that Little Qi actually felt a twinge of fear. She quickly stood up. “I—I have something to do. I’ll be going now.”

This time, Yichen didn’t get up to stop her, but Pantheon was growing anxious.

He glanced at Yichen’s impassive face, truly at a loss for words.

He hurried out after Little Qi.

“Xiyang!”

At the stairwell, Little Qi stopped. “Doctor Pan, you say he’s sick, but I really can’t see it. All he does is bully me every day, and he seems to enjoy it. Honestly, I’m starting to think you’re both conspiring to fool me.”

Pantheon sighed and pointed out the window nearby. “Look at that patient.”

Following his finger, Little Qi saw a woman in her thirties in a hospital gown sitting on a bench below. She was clutching a doll in her arms and seemed to be muttering to herself.

“What about that patient?” Little Qi asked.

Pantheon gazed at the woman. “Most of the patients in this hospital have mental disorders. On the surface, they look normal, but when their illness becomes severe, they can’t even take care of themselves.”

Little Qi didn’t quite understand why he was telling her this, but for some reason, her thoughts drifted to Lin Yichen.

“What does this have to do with him?”

“Everything,” Pantheon replied, pushing up his glasses. “Yichen has a mental illness.”

Those six words struck Little Qi like a bolt of lightning, leaving her stunned and speechless for several minutes.

Terrifying. So frightening.

How could he have a mental illness?

“You just said…” Little Qi pointed at the woman outside. “Will Lin Yichen end up like that?”

“He’s not at that stage yet,” Pantheon said seriously, “but his psychological issues might be even more severe than hers. If they can’t be addressed soon, things could get much worse for him.”

Hearing this, Little Qi was finally convinced—and scared. She pictured Yichen unable to care for himself, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She turned to run.

“Xiyang, where are you going?”

“I’m going to stay with him.”

Pantheon breathed a sigh of relief—he’d finally convinced this stubborn girl.

Little Qi ran back—only to find no sign of President Lin.

He’d left?

Pantheon came in. “Doctor Pan, why did he leave?”

Pantheon sighed. “Yichen is proud by nature. You walked out on him like that—how could he stay? He won’t come looking for you again.”

At this, Little Qi instinctively felt relieved.

But what about his illness?

“Doctor Pan, I’ll go find him now.” She halted. “Doctor Pan, what symptoms does his illness usually have?”

Pantheon decided to be honest. “His condition could be called emotional incapacity.”

“Emotional incapacity?”

“Yes.” Of course, Pantheon didn’t mention Yichen’s mother. He just said, “But it’s not about romantic love. It’s about the love found in family or friendship. He can’t be sure how long people will stay by his side, or they might suddenly leave without warning. As a form of self-protection, he avoids emotional connections with those close to him.”

Is the human heart really so complicated?

But then, why does he keep pursuing me?

Or rather, why does he keep pursuing Ye Xiyang?

Yet, remembering Pantheon’s earlier explanation, that emotional incapacity only covered familial and friendly love…

But still…

Something about it didn’t make sense to Little Qi, and yet somehow it all did.

She decided not to think about it.

“Doctor Pan, so if I stay by his side, his illness won’t return?”

“For the most part, yes. But if you do a bit more, his illness will never come back.”

“What should I do?”

“You need to help him open up in relationships and feel secure emotionally.”

Little Qi was puzzled. “How do I help him open up emotionally?”

“Well…” Pantheon pondered. “Praise him often, be gentle with him, make him feel important in your eyes, that he’s worthy of love. Raise his self-esteem in relationships, don’t anger him—in short, praise him, keep him happy, and never make him angry.”

Little Qi felt lost in a fog.

Pantheon pulled out his phone. “Xiyang, I’ll send you some information about psychological treatment. Take a look.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Xiyang,” Pantheon added seriously after sending the information, “no matter what happens between you two in the future, never hurt Yichen.”

#

The next morning, Little Qi arrived at the company early.

But the president had arrived even earlier.

She hurried to the president’s office.

Before she could take anything out, President Lin tossed her a black card. “Use this for your expenses from now on. You don’t need to pay it back.”

“…?”

What was going on?

Every instinct told Little Qi she absolutely couldn’t accept this—it would be the end of her… She opened her mouth. “I don’t—”

She’d barely started when the president’s gaze cut her off, but she wasn’t afraid.

She’d grown used to this trick—so unoriginal.

Little Qi looked at President Lin with great disdain.

“What don’t you want?” he asked coldly.

“I don’t…”

Suddenly she remembered: Doctor Pan said to praise him, never make him angry.

So the word “want” caught in her throat, nearly causing internal injury.

“What is it you don’t want?”

“I… can’t not want it.”

Sigh.

Little Qi lowered her head in frustration.

Yichen’s eyes flashed with displeasure.

Why didn’t she want anything from him?

“Leave,” Yichen said coolly, but didn’t forget to make her take the card. “Take the card with you.”

“Oh.”

Little Qi took the card and returned to her desk, dazed for a long time before something she had long forgotten resurfaced in her mind.

She pulled a bottle of essential oil from her pocket. Really, why give her a card? It messed up her plan.

She hadn’t even given him her gift yet—though it wasn’t much, but still…

Wait, how much was on this black card?

It looked so exclusive.

She thought about asking her colleagues, but that didn’t seem right.

Ask Fang Li? He’d never tell the truth.

Ask at the bank? But she’d have to go out.

Maybe ask Yiyang.

She called Yiyang.

Yiyang wasn’t working either, just playing games in his office.

He picked up, laughing. “Xiyang, why are you calling during work?”

“Uh, just a question.”

“Ask away.”

“The black card—the bank card that’s black, this type…”

“You have one of those?”

Little Qi instinctively denied it. “No, I just happened to see one. It looked so imposing, so exclusive, so I wanted to ask.”

“That card has no spending limit. Very few people have one. Who did you see with it?”

“Oh, just someone I don’t know. I have to get back to work—bye!”

No way… No limit?

Little Qi felt the card burning her hand. She had to return it immediately.

Action-oriented as ever, Little Qi rushed to the president’s office, only to find that His Excellency was in a foul mood.

Well, that made sense—after what she’d said at the hospital yesterday, he’d be upset.

Yet despite that, he’d given her such a weighty card today.

Sigh…

She felt so guilty.

Which made it all the more reason not to accept it.

With a “thud,” she placed the black card by President Lin’s hand. “Mr. Lin, thank you for your kindness, but I really can’t accept this card.”

His eyes drifted from his paperwork to the card, and he fell silent.

He retrieved the card, then took a white box from his drawer and handed it to her. “Take this.”

Curiously, Little Qi opened the box to find a necklace with a simple, unremarkable chain.

It didn’t look expensive—so it should be fine to accept.

But why did he keep giving her things?

Sigh…

She took it. Yichen looked up. “Remember to wear it.”

“Oh.”

“It’s nearly ten. Bring me my lunch.”

“Oh.”

Little Qi floated out of the office to pick up lunch from the auntie’s restaurant.

On the way, she looked at the letters on the white box.

Why didn’t she recognize these letters?

At the restaurant, she showed the box to Xiao Bai.

“Xiao Bai, do you know these letters?”

Xiao Bai shook her head. “Maybe ask your colleagues or that Lin Yiyang.”

“That’s right.” Of course, Little Qi wasn’t foolish enough to show the box around, so she copied the letters onto a piece of paper.

She arrived at the company ten minutes early and showed the copied letters to her colleagues.

They said it was French, but didn’t know the words. One recognized a word: “That’s a jewelry brand, apparently super expensive—most pieces cost over a million.”

What? That expensive?

Hearing the price, Little Qi had only one thought: let the wind carry it away, far away… It was so expensive—thank goodness she hadn’t worn it, or someone might break her neck to steal it.

Honestly, why did he have to give her such expensive things?

Little Qi was utterly dejected, muttering, “Why give me something so expensive?”

Under everyone’s baffled and curious gazes, she drifted back to her desk like a lost soul.

She stared at the box for over ten minutes, dazed.

Truly, the great capitalist’s method of using both stick and gold was masterful.

Sigh…

Her gloom came from a deep inner conflict.

As the saying goes, one should not accept rewards without merit.

Accepting such an expensive gift for no reason made her neck feel heavy.

There was no way she could accept something like this.

A gossiping colleague, having observed Little Qi’s absentmindedness for a while, was just about to come over and pry…